Improvement in steam-engine governors



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` WILLIAM ASHBY, OF TIMBER TOWNSHIP, ASSIGNOR TO WARNER B. vCARU'IILIIEIRS, OF INDIAN POINT, ILLINOIS.

Leners Patent No. 85,632, zaad January 5, 1369./ v

' y K mPRovnMnNr IN STEAM-ENGINE GovnRNoRs.

To all whom it may concern y Be it known that I, WILLIAM AsHBY, of Timber township, Peoria county, 4in the State of Illinois, have invented an Improved Governor and Indicator for Steam-Engines5and I hereby declare the following to be a full and exact description thereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming part of this specification. v

The nature or essence of my invention consists in supporting the shaft, which takes its motion from a centrifugal governor, upon an adjustable bearing, so

that it may be raised or lowered while the engine is in motion, and may thus be set to give a. high or low rate of speed, as required; also, in arranging a lever provided at one end with a pin working in a grooved collar on the rod or shaft that communicates the action of the-governor to the steam-valve, in order that the opposite end offthe lever may-show, by an index' or scale, when the steam is rising or falling, and arranging, on said lever, projections to strike a bell or bells, the lower-most bell to give notice when the enginev is about to diminish its speed, and the uppermost bell to giye notice when the steam is considerably higher than `the engine requires.

[In the following more particular description of my improved governor, which I call The Excelsior Steam- Governor and Indicator, I shall refer to the drawings k hereinbefore mentioned, of whichbevel-gear at F and the shaft G, which maybe turned by a belt on the pulley H, or otherwise.A

The sliding collar I, on the shaft E, is connected to the arms C O by the rods or straps J J, pivoted at both ends, and is provided with two friction-wheels or flanges, either-of which may come in contact with the wheel K, placed between them on the shaft L, but set so far apart that when one is in contact with K, the other will be clear of it.

The shaft L will therefore be turned in one direction,

or the opposite, according as the rising or falling of the collar I may bring its lower or upper ange in contact with the wheel K.

. 7 working in the teeth of the wheel O, arranged as a nut on the screw-rodor shaft P, so as to raise `or depress the rod P, according to the direction in which the shaft L is turned.

. lThe lower end vof the rod P may be connected to the.

steam-supply valve by any of the usual and well-known modes of connection, or by means of the lever W, pivoted upon the stand S.

Now, if the motion ofthe engine, communicated to the shaft E and balls B, shall become rapid enough to cause the balls/to swing out by the centrifugal force generateththe sliding collar I will be raised, and its lower flange brought in contact with the wheel K, so as to turn. the shaft L, and thus give motion to the rod P; but if, on the other hand, the speed slackens, so that the balls B tend to fall or collapse, the collar I will be depressed, and its upper flange brought in contact with the wheel K, and the shaftl L will be turned in the opposite direction to that given in the former case, and a corresponding. movement given to the rod P, and thus the steam-supply valve may be opened wider or shut closeig'as required, to give, as nearly as may be, a uniform motion to the engine and machinery. d

The lever or beam Ris pivoted at one end upon the frame A, while its opposite end Ais arranged to traverse vertically in a bracket on a post ofthe frame A, being raised or lowered, as required, by means of the nut a on the screw-rod @,said nut and rod being held by the stand b, projectin'glfrom the frame A;

The stand c on the lever R holds the,nut-wheel O,

and the arm d on the same supports the bearing of the shaft L, and by means of the nut a, therefore, which raises or lowers the end of the lever R, the shaft L and wheel K may be adjusted, so as to place the Wheel K at such a point of elevation as -will secure lthe required rate of speed, whether high or low;".for it is evident that if the wheel K be raised, the balls B must receive a more rapid motion before the collar I will be raised far enough for its lower flange to act-upon the wheel K, so as to give motion to the rod P, and thus check the supply of steam, and that if the wheel K be depressed, a lower rate of speed will produce the same lever R, without its being necessary to stop the engine or machinery. A

The lever e is pivoted upon a block fastened tothe frame A, and has a pin projecting into the groove in the collar f, on the rod P, so that the rising and falling of the -rod P, and consequently the opposite end of the lever e, projecting through the index-scale g, will indicate when the steam i's rising or falling, the speed being the same, while the indicator traverses from one end ofthe scale .to the other, or back again, until the steam is all on or olf, as the case may be. f The strikers h 11on the block t, fastened on the lever e, by coming'in contact with the bell j`or j', as

the oase may be, will give notice, in the. one oase,when

' the speed is about to diminish, and, in the other oase,

to give n'otioe when the steam is about to escape through the safety-valve.

The plate g may have a, scale, k, on which gures may be placed, indicating any given position ofthe finger.

The thumb-latch n, situated on the block Y, throughwhioh the rod P passesfdown to the steam-valve, may be sprung out of the groove in the rod P, so as to allow the vrod P to be turned by the hand-wheel X in starting or stopping the engine.

ela 632 1'. I claim the combination and airan'gement of. the

lever R, screw-rod fu, arm d, shaft Lfand stand c, sub` stantially as set forth. Y

2. I also claim the arrangement of the grooved collar 72 on the rod P, lever e, index-scale g, strikers h and h', and bells j and j', substantially as described.

VILLIAM ASHBY.k

Witnesses ISAAC WHITEHOUSE, Jos. W. Hmzs'r. 

